SNES Game Review: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

 The sequel of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES by Rareware was Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.  Yes Kong Quest is there for conquest, but since Diddy is a Kong, then ah you get the point already.  Anyway, This was the second in a trilogy of Donkey Kong Country games on the SNES, and all three are top 25 games.  However, this game is probably the best of the three.  Here is why below!

Positive:

1. Graphics- Rare again does a fantastic job of graphics in this game, but with a lot, lot more complicated levels than that of DKC 1.  These are moving ships, hidden parts to levels, secret levels, different scenery from almost every aspect.  This is far better and they made it so crisp in just about every way possible.

2. Frame rate- They also fixed the frame rate in this game to not be so choppy and it is more fluid and flowing.  Rare literally took any mistakes on this from the first game (First try mistakes we'll say) and made them a lot, lot better. I was positive on this throughout the game.

3. Better camera positioning- One thing I didn't really comment on in DKC 1 was the camera because for the most part it was fine minus some positions in say water levels where it doesn't keep up with Diddy/Donkey a lot.  Same with some of the snow/ice levels.  However in DKC 2, it keeps up with Diddy and Dixie all the time and makes it again more flowing from a camera perspective.

4. No Donkey Kong- Okay now I go hard on this and I am also attaching the DKC 1 review as to why.  However you have two speedsters here and more flexible characters in Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong.  They fit the game a lot, lot better with their quickness, speed, flexibility, being nimble.  Donkey was more of a clunker and it made for a difficult struggle with him in DKC 1.

5. Better bosses- You have actual strategy for the bosses this time, which makes for a fun game overall.  In DKC 1, the bosses were very, very basic and didn't lend itself to much difficulty other than get through the levels.  However in DKC 2, you have to try, and in some cases (cough final boss cough) try a lot to get the job done.  I do like this as it presents a massive challenge to the player.

6. Music- Rare and Nintendo do it again, fantastic music for literally every level and boss out there.  It was a terrific sight to see and they did the best overall with it and notes to this being a terrific soundtrack to just vibe to, chill or just game up.  Well done lads and lasses on this. 

Negatives:

1. Difficulty- Okay so I may have mentioned that DKC 1 may have been too easy.  If Rare wanted a challenge oh boy did they get a challenge with this game.  It's almost to the point of some levels being completely unfair.  The bosses, minus the final one, are pretty fair.  The final one is exceptionally difficult.  I feel though some of the levels could have been toned down on the sheer difficulty factor.  And yes I did take my account of being completely bad at games before writing this.

Overall rating/Rank:

To me, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is an absolutely brilliant game by Nintendo and Rareware.  They did well with giving the game more to the player in terms of better camera positioning, frame rate, boss difficulty, but kept the graphics and music extremely good as well.  This is a game that deserves a high rating and a high rank.

Rating: 9.4 out of 10, and the reason it isn't a 10 is just due to the extreme difficulty of some of the levels.  If they had toned down on that, it'd be a perfect game.

Rank: Out of the 721 games made for the SNES, DKC 2 is very high up there.  A lot of people rank it as the best of the 3 on the Super Nintendo and I tend to agree.  For me this game doesn't crack the top 10 but it comes close as it is 12th in my list of games. 

Link to the DKC 1 review:  https://mywideworldofblogging.blogspot.com/2018/07/snes-game-review-donkey-kong-country.html